New guards’ strikes up the ante

Submitted by AWL on 20 June, 2019 - 7:49

RMT has upped the ante in the dispute against DOO on South Western Railway, by announcing a five day strike from 18-22 June.

Despite winning what appeared to be a “guard guarantee” in February via previous strikes, SWR bosses have dithered and have failed to implement an agreement to retain guards’ jobs. Naming new strikes is absolutely the right thing to do, and it’s absolutely right to go big. Incidental one-day strikes won’t get the goods: sustained action might.

RMT needs to finance these strikes to ensure members aren’t forced back to work for financial reasons. And if the action doesn’t bear fruit immediately, we need to be prepared to name more action. And, most importantly, this return to action on SWR needs to herald a wider return to action on Northern and Merseyrail too.